“Economic development does work, but it does not work overnight,” Andrew Natsios, former Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (AID), told The Cipher Brief. The problem with common criticisms of aid programs – that they are wasteful and do not produce real results – is that results are often measured only in the short term. As a result, intra-governmental audits and external studies may miss the true dividends of economic development programs, which could come to fruition decades down the line.

Hands clasped and eyes squeezed shut, the students stand in two lines near the back of a spacious monastery classroom. Several suppress a smile as they wait for an “electric pulse” to make its way down each line, passed from one person to the next with a quick squeeze of the hand. When it reaches a young woman at the end of one row, she races to grab a water bottle from the seat of a plastic chair nearby.

It is well known that Turkey has expanded its soft power through international aid, which was about $3.4 billion in 2012. It is quite likely more than that now. Regarding a specific case, in September 2014, a memorandum of understanding was signed between the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TİKA), and the Mexican Agency for International Development (AMEXCID) on close cooperation in terms of regional and international aid projects.